


I'm the Hero of This Story

by ScotlandEvander



Series: Over the Rainbow [29]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Anger, Angst, Break Up, Gen, Mild Language, Realization, Time Travel, Yelling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-19
Updated: 2013-07-19
Packaged: 2017-12-20 17:16:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/889812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScotlandEvander/pseuds/ScotlandEvander
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“How can I trust you, if what you are saying is true?”</p><p>“You can’t,” Atlanta replied. “You’ll need to take a leap of faith.”</p><p>She picked up her tea and sipped it slowly. Sirius held his in his hands, staring out her window.</p><p>“You’re flat is weird.”</p><p>“I know. I have my own taste,” she offered lightly. He noticed the tension leaving her as she sipped the tea. She had Think Face on. “I will save Reggie.”</p><p>“How?” Sirius couldn’t help but ask.</p><p>“I don’t know yet, but I don’t think I have a lot of time,” Atlanta offered.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm the Hero of This Story

**Disclaimer: If you know it, I do not own it. Oh, Atlanta curses. I think twice. Please excuse her, she is rather upset and couldn’t find a better word to convey her emotions.**

* * *

Sirius stumbled a bit as he Apparated into the sheltered back alley behind Atlanta’s flat. He’d always a bit confused on her choice of cities to live in, but figured her boarder line insanity was part of the reason she had chosen to live in the West End of Glasgow, Scotland. To Sirius, Glasgow was worst than the dingy, dirty area of London where Grimmauld Place was located.

“You don’t understand real estate, Padfoot,” she had informed him, standing in front of a dirty looking sandstone building. The whole area was covered with identical looking buildings, like they had all been picked out of a catalogue and placed in a circle. “This is an up and coming area, trust me. I know things. And I adore the historical aspects. The city really wants to protect and refurbish these townhouses. Plus, the Park District is totally gorgeous.”

Sirius had rolled his eyes deeply at her. 

He did not really truly understand— nor would he ever— but he did understand her desire to live in a Muggle area. If there was one thing he knew about Atlanta Dorothy Black (besides the random insane things that popped out of her mouth), she loved anything Muggle. 

Sirius walked out of the alley and onto the street she lived on. Part of him, even in his misery, desperately wanted to transform into Padfoot and gallop through the inviting park across the street from the flat. The flat was located on top of a hill and from the hill rolled the ever green scenery of Glasgow’s West End. The park located across the street was massive and called to Sirius’s inner dog. It took every ounce of himself to not transform. He had spent too many days as a dog in recent days. 

A wave of regret and sadness overtook him. 

Shaking it off, he climbed the stone stairs to the massive, formerly elegant black front door. (It had clearly seen better days and was in need of a paint job.) He stared at the list of flats and saw A. BLACK. He always snorted when he saw that. He hit the familiar white button and waited a moment.

“Yes?”

“It’s Sirius.”

“Oh, no. Well, I best let you up if it’s serious,” she joked, not realizing the gravity of the situation. Sirius frowned. He had counted on her knowing the current situation. Either from Remus or from the fact she simply _knew_ things she shouldn’t. 

After a long pause where he made no quippy come back, she said, “Uh, you still there or did your run out on me?”

“Still here, Atlanta.”

“Uh, oh. Full first name. Come on up and tell me what is so vastly serious you failed to join in punning your tragic first name.”

The buzzer went off and Sirius pushed the door open into the lobby. In the past it had been grand (like everything else in the building), but had fallen into disrepair (like everything else in the building). He started up the massive staircase (also in need of a new paint job), climbing till he reached the third floor. Atlanta was already standing at the door to the flat, a look of concern on her face. She gave him a once over and the look of concern grew to alarm.

“Sirius Orion Black, what the hell happened to you?”

Sirius stopped in his tracks and felt himself crumble. He knew he looked horrible— his hair dirty, his usually polished outer shell in shambles. He had dark circles around his eyes and his usually clear eyes were bloodshot, either from drinking or from lack of sleep or both. 

He wasn’t aware of the last time he’d eaten. As a dog or a human. 

He wasn’t even aware he’d even hit the floor till Atlanta hoisted him to his feet. Using strength that rivaled Remus’, she managed to haul him into her flat and deposited him on her black leather couch that faced her television. She sat down next to him in the overly sunny, bright, cheery lounge. Sirius really wanted to shut all the shades, as the flat seemed to be sunny even though it was cloudy and ugly outside.

She put her hand on his leg and leaned in closer to him. He could feel her studying him carefully even though he kept his eyes glued to the ground. 

“Please, Siri, tell me what’s wrong.”

He stared at her in a jarring sort of way. She’d only called him “Siri” once before. Usually only Remus called him that when they were alone and Remus was trying to be cute or caring. Tears began leaking out of Sirius’ eyes. 

Atlanta looked at a loss on what to do with Sirius, so he flung himself backwards, sinking into the stiff couch. He put his hands over his face and let out a wail, which even to his own ears sounded too foreign to be coming out of his mouth. 

“How do you do it, Atlanta, how?” Sirius demanded, dropping his hands from his face. “How do you live each day?”

She looked confused. She bit her bottom lip for a moment. Sirius waited for her to figure it out without telling her, but it seemed this time she didn’t have a moment of Knowing. He did not really want to voice it, he did not really want to have to tell her what he’d done, what he suspected and how he felt after two weeks. He had counted on her _Knowing_. He knew she’d always known this was coming. While he didn’t think she really ‘knew,’ he felt that she had an inkling.

“I just live,” she said. “I’m not sure what you’re asking. Is the war getting to you? I know you’re on the front lines as an Auror while I’m tucked away in my flat making loads of money inventing spells with our friendly apparition.” 

“He’s not friendly. He’s a freaking sociopath.” 

“So’s Sherlock Holmes.” 

Not wanting to keep discussing Tom the Apparition, Sirius glanced around the flat, taking it in for the first time since he’d sat down. It was clear since she’d moved in, she’d redone the entire place. It looked as polished and grand as she described when she’d bought the flat shortly after Lily and James got married. She had a vision when she’d looked at it, which Sirius had failed to share. It’d clearly had recently been finished, as the last time Sirius’s had been in the flat, there was no kitchen. Now, there was a brand new kitchen, which looked as if it were from the future. 

“I take it the pair of you have sold quite a few spells,” Sirius said flatly.

“Being a Master pays, dude,” she informed him gravely. “Also, having a high functioning sociopath genius on your sides does too. I’m pretty sure he gave up sleeping.”

Atlanta had managed to get her Master Spellsmith standing less than a year after graduation and it wasn’t because she was pretty or the fact she had Tom Riddle (the sociopath) in her head half the time. She was adept and clever before Tom showed up. She was one of the most sought after Spellsmiths in the world. Add onto that the fact Tom was a rather well known author of a boat load of cutting edge spell books, as TR DeVinette, the pair would never want for anything. 

Sirius did worry she was closing herself off from human interaction by spending so much time with…the apparition. Though, she had her reasons, he guessed. He did find it odd after she moved to the flat, she only told himself, Remus and Lily where she was living. Atlanta Black was a master at using the Filedlius Charm and had hidden herself and the flat without the aid of a Secret Keeper somehow. It was so complex, even Dumbledore had issues understanding it. 

“Back to the matter at hand. No. And yes on the war thing,” Sirius admitted. “But, I want to know how you live being in love with a Death Eater.”

All the color left her face and she let out a puff of air. It sounded like Sirius had punched her in the gut. 

“How do you do it, Lanta? I know you still love him. I know you do,” Sirius insisted. “And you knew he was a Death Eater BEFORE you saw the Dark Mark on his arm!”

He was yelling at her, taking his anger out on her. He knew and she knew it, but her eyes were still filling with tears. She’d let the words wound her, tightening around her till she was restricted. Atlanta sat perfectly still for a moment, till the damn burst. She balled her fists and stood up, taking a few steps away from him. 

“Who do you think is a Death Eater? The only person I know you love that way is Remus,” Atlanta all but screamed at him. “And REMUS is not a Death Eater, you moron! How can you even entertain the idea that REMUS JOHN LUPIN is a FUCKING Death Eater!”

Sirius felt like he’s hit gold. She’s sworn at him. She had stopped cursing over a year ago. He’d made her curse. 

Sirius leapt up, balling his own fists up. “HOW? Have you looked at the freaking evidence!?”

“WHAT EVIDENCE?!”

“HE’S ALWAYS GONE ON SECRET MISSIONS! ALL OUR MISSIONS GET BUGGERED UP WHILE HE IS GONE! EVEN ONES THAT NO ONE IS SUPPOSED TO KNOW ABOUT BUT THOSE INVOLVED IN, GET MESSED UP! WE HAVEN’T HAD A SUCCESSFUL MISSION SINCE WE ALL JOINED THE ORDER! OUR SIDE IS LOOSING. THERE IS A SPY!”

Atlanta made the same noise she’d made before, like Sirius has punched her in the gut. She tripped backwards, almost falling to the ground. Her hand came up and she covered her mouth. Her sage eyes went large. She began to shake her head. 

“No, no, no, no, no,” she muttered behind her hand. She began looking everywhere except Sirius. 

“What? Atlanta, tell me now!”

Sirius felt she knew something that he did not— like how she knew Regulus, Snape and a few others were Death Eaters. The same way she’d known that James and Lily were going to wind up married. The same way she’d gotten excited that day in that strange room when she found something. How she’d known Remus had fallen for Sirius before even Remus knew it himself. Sirius had accepted sometimes Atlanta Dorothy Black just _knew_ things. He’d come to count on her simply _knowing_. It steamed from whatever was wrong with her brain that made her slightly mad, but harmless. 

Sirius was sure she knew who the spy was in the Order. Atlanta had refused to join the Order, but she did spell work for them when Dumbledore asked. Sirius was never sure if her refusal to join the Order was because Dumbledore refused to allow it (he seemed to refuse to allow her to do things or say things sometimes), or she refused to work against Regulus. Sirius always felt it was the latter— though, Dumbledore was always hesitant to ask Atlanta for her input passed a spell or two for protection. He’d flat out refused the last time when someone suggested her as a member. 

It raised a few eyebrows, since she was the person creating all the fancy wards for the Order. 

Her wards were the strongest and almost impossible to get through. Everyone Sirius knew had wards Atlanta had created on their homes. She had even invented a few, one which kept out people with Dark Marks. And yet, somehow, the Death Eaters knew how to get through these wards. They knew exactly where the weak spots were and how to fool the anti-Dark Mark wards. 

It frustrated Atlanta (and Tom), so no one questioned that she was doing it herself. (Or Tom, those who knew about him, since he’d had a small hissy fit and caused himself to vanish for a few days as he’d drained all his energy or something weird.) 

“ATLANTA, WHO IS THE SPY!”

“PETER!”

Atlanta slapped her hand over her mouth. She stared at him with wide eyes and he knew she had NEVER meant to tell him that. Blinking, he tried to wrap his mind around why she wouldn’t tell them she knew. 

Atlanta sat down, forgetting she had moved away from the couch and landed with a loud crash on the floor. 

“Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod. Ohmigod, ohmigod. It’s a fixed point in time, it’s a fixed point in time.” 

Atlanta began to hyperventilate. She pulled her knees to her chest and began to rock back and forth. 

Sirius stared at her. She continued to gasp and stutter for a long time before Sirius couldn’t stand it any longer. No matter how miserable he was or how mad he was, he couldn’t stand around and watch her slowly turn blue. Kneeling down next to her, he took her in his arms and hugged her. She stopped rocking and allowed him to comfort her. 

“You crazy bint. I don’t know what that crazy voice in your head is telling you, but Peter is not a spy,” Sirius informed her. “How could he be a spy? He’s…well, he’s Peter.”

“No, no, no, no, no, no,” Atlanta sobbed, finally breaking down. “Sirius, you don’t— don’t understand! I’m….”

She pushed him away roughly. She crawled away from him before getting to her feet. 

“I’m not in an alternative reality! Nothing I have done here has changed ANYTHING! Do you understand that? NOTHING is different! I’m here and NOTHING is different! You still think REMUS is a freaking DEATH EATER! There is STILL a SPY in the Order! Regulus STILL became a Death Eater! Snape STILL chose the Death Eaters! We have stronger wards, better defensive spells, and WE ARE STILL LOSING! NOTHING I DO CHANGS ANYTHING BECAUSE IT IS ALL FIXED!” She grabbed at her hair and pulled hard. Sirius heard the hairs ripping from her scalp. “Regulus _STILL_ went dark, even after ALL THE FUCKING OPTIONS I GAVE HIM. I spent almost TWO FUCKING YEARS trying to TALK SNAPE OUT OF IT! AND PETER!”

She let out a scream at this point and left the room. 

“THE ONLY THING I DID WAS TO GET MOFFAT TO GO STUDY WRITING!” 

Sirius remained on the floor, staring at where she’d vanished. He heard things crashing in another room, her screaming more about Moffat— who Sirius couldn’t remember in the least— and Tom asking her what the hell had gotten into her. The pair began to argue about the flow of time as she threw things around in whatever room she’d gone to in the back of the flat.

 Sirius mulled over what she’d said about Regulus, Snape and Peter. He didn’t think Peter could possible be the spy. He was too stupid. Peter also didn’t hold any of the beliefs of Voldemort or his followers. There was no reason for Peter to even join that side. Remus, though…he was a werewolf. He was discarded by wizarding society. Since graduation, other than work for the Order, Remus had been unable to even get a job, let alone hold one. Voldemort could easily promise Remus great things in exchange for information. There was also the small fact, Remus was powerful for a wizard. Peter was weak. Why would Voldemort want a weak wizard? Voldemort was all about the power. 

Sirius didn’t want to believe either one was the spy, but something told him that it was someone close to him who happened to be the spy. 

Peter never went on missions. Peter went to work, took care of his mother and hung around with James and Sirius. Peter didn’t _know_ anything. He only went to the basic meetings, never the mission planning meetings. 

Remus went to those.

There was no way Peter could be the spy. 

Peter was suspicious of Remus. Sirius wasn’t the only one. 

Also, Atlanta _was_ slightly insane. She thought she was from an alternative reality. Though, she’d just stated she wasn’t. Her best friend was a ghost like being named Tom Riddle, who grew up to become Voldemort, and had sprung out of a sketchbook created by Walburga Black. 

She was currently fighting with that thing that wasn’t a ghost, yet wasn’t an actual human being who grew up to be Lord Voldemort. She worked with this…thing…and lived with this thing. She carried it in her arm and had its voice in her head, for crying out loud, when she left the flat. 

Yeah, Atlanta Dorothy Black was a little crazy. 

Pushing himself to his feet, Sirius walked into the entrance hall and headed down to where the bedrooms were located. He found Atlanta in the room used as the study/Tom’s room. It was littered in paper and parchment, books and various other odd do-dads. The room looked as if it had recently exploded. The desk was turned over, the bed had been stripped and the sheets thrown to the other side of the room. The mattress was hanging off the frame, half on the floor half still on the frame. Atlanta was sitting in the middle of the floor, surrounded by open books and paper. She had a pen tucked behind her ear and she as holding her wand in her right hand while the other hand wrote. 

She was working?

Sirius glanced around the room, looking for Tom Riddle, who wasn’t grey and silver and see through like ghosts. If you didn’t look closely, you wouldn’t think he wasn’t solid. Sirius thought it was the oddest thing he’d seen in his entire life the first time he’d been introduced to Tom. And that was even after being introduced to television. Tom Riddle the Not Ghost who was kind of a sociopath was still the strangest thing in the world as far as Sirius was concerned. 

Tom was sitting on the window sill, his fifteen year old form draped dramatically. He was twirling a pen in his long, slim fingers as he pointedly glared out the window with an ugly scowl on his face. Sirius could see magic sparking off the pen as it smoothly moved between Tom’s fingers.  

“I wish I had a freaking computer,” Atlanta grumbled. “This would be so much better with a damn word processor.” 

Sirius was too mad and angry to actually ask her what the hell she was talking about. He figured it was like a _cell phone_ — whatever that was. She always wanted one of those in times of need. Or a _pager._ Once she wanted to page Dumbledore when she’d had problems with something. 

“Can you have a lucid moment, please?” he demanded and Tom snorted darkly. “I need to talk to SOMEONE.” 

“I’m very lucid, Sirius Black,” she snapped. “What you think is insanity, is actual truth. I’m not insane. A little whacky, but I’m not insane, batty, mad, or crazy. I’m very sane. A few times I thought I might be a bit mental, but I went to a Muggle doctor and was cleared for any mental illnesses.”

Tom scoffed. 

“Muggle doctor? What do they know?” Sirius demanded.

“Plenty. The Wizarding world isn’t very keen on mental illnesses, so I went Muggle. I’m as sane as you are.”

“Oh, please, darling. You’re judging your sanity based on the mutt?” Tom drawled, eyes still glued out the window. 

Sirius growled.  

Atlanta ignored them both. “I know things you do not about future events.”

“Yeah, because you’re from an alternative reality,” Sirius mockingly replied.

“She’s from the future, you mangy mutt,” Tom grumbled, pushing himself off the window sill. He stalked across the room, dropping the magical pen on the ground next to Atlanta. “Put my room back in order when you’re done, won’t you, sweetheart?”

Atlanta huffed, but waved her wand at something and a paper flew over to her. She caught it, stared at it, then threw it behind her. Tom sauntered off passing through Sirius (just because he could) and silently “walked” off. (Atlanta had laced her magic all through the flat to allow Tom to be “solid” like a normal human being. Things not magicked, Tom passed through. Sirius was one of his all time favorite things to walk through.) 

Sirius seethed for a moment after the rather uncomfortable feeling of being walked through wore off, then walked in and righted the over turned chair. He sat down and pointedly looked at Atlanta. 

“Sirius, you broke up with Remus because you think he’s a spy and it disgusts you. Since you began thinking he was up to no good, you’ve slowly withdrawn from him, yet you still love him. It is making you sick how much you still love him even though you think he’s betrayed you.” 

Atlanta paused, still writing with one hand and doing some sort of spell with the other. More papers flew over to her. She glared at the sheets before sending them back at the lopsided bed. The papers slid off. Hearing this, she waved her wand and the mattress flew back on the frame. She flicked her wand again and the sheets put themselves on the bed. With another wand movement, the papers flew up and landed on the bed. 

“Remus is not the spy and I’m ashamed you even think that.”

Sirius shifted in the chair. Raking a hand through his greasy hair he cringed, partly because of what Atlanta had said, partly because he realized he was channeling Snape with his hair. 

“Now, since I have been here and have done and said things, I had hoped the spy might not be Peter. That is why I didn’t say anything. When the three of you all got into serious relationships your seventh year, I hung out with Peter. I always hypothesis the reason he did what he did in my time was because he was lonely. I— I failed with Reggie and with Severus. Though, to be honest, I kind of figure Severus was a lost cause, but I still had to try. Maybe he’ll be nicer to Harry in the future? I don’t know. The damage was already done to his friendship with Lily, so I didn’t know how to fix it. But, Reggie….oh, Reggie.”

Suddenly her wand clattered to the floor and the pen shortly followed. She buried her face in her hands and shook her head, her hair falling over her shoulders and creating a curtain. 

“I could have saved him,” she said into her hands. “I knew he needed someone to just listen, to show they cared. He had those lost little boy eyes.” She lifted her face out of her palms and stabbed Sirius with a look. “You left him in that house alone! You left him behind and made him think you didn’t give a damn! You picked POTTER over your own damn brother. Do you know what that did to him? When you turned your back on him because he went into Slytherin?”

Sirius wanted to argue with her, but sparks were flying through her hair. The last time that had happened, she’d punched him and broke his nose. Instead, he balled his fists and dug his fingers into his palms. 

“I know you think the Marauders are your family. That’s fine. But, you didn’t need to pick on your brother, ignore your brother.”

“HE BELIEVED ALL THAT PURE BLOOD SHIT!” Sirius screamed at her. 

“Not fully, Sirius. He believes in family. That is the blood he believes in,” she said in a low dangerous tone. “You are his blood. He wanted to bring honor the family, he wanted to make his parents proud. While I know you never cared two shits about that, he did. But, he never bought into the whole thing with Muggles and Muggleborns. He never fully believed in keeping the blood ‘pure.’ He just wanted to honor and make the family proud. After he got to Hogwarts, he didn’t see the differences your family had pointed out to him for years. He saw the same things YOU DID. He’s watched people, he pays attention. The only difference between the two of your is that he’s not as brave as you are. He’s scared.”

She broke a little bit, cracking at the seams she had sewn together over the years. Casting her eyes away from Sirius, she looked distraught, lost. 

“He was scared, so he did what your insane mother told him to do after you ran away,” she spat out. “You left him there alone and there was no one else for your mother to focus on, so she put all her attention to Reggie. Do you know what his mission was, Sirius? Do you?”

“Kill Muggles? Wipe the Muggleborns out?”

“No,” she said coldly, casting her eyes back to him. They were a strange greenish yellow shade and slightly glowing. Without thinking, he took a step backwards. “His mission was to bring me into the fold, to make me into a Death Eater.”

She laughed. It was bitter and empty. Atlanta’s laugh tore through Sirius. He stared at her as she sat in a mess of papers in the room, her hair still hiding her face from him. 

“Voldemort knew there was something about me, knew there was something that could benefit his play for world domination. He didn’t give two shits about my so called family connections in America. I’m pretty sure he knows I have about as many family connections as he does. No, he saw something in me that reminded him of someone,” she went on. She looked bitter. “I’m powerful, just like her. I’m alone. Except for Reggie. He’d spied on me enough my first year here to know that Reggie was the one thing that meant anything to me. So, he took Reggie from me. To get me on his side.”

“You stopped talking to Reggie when you found out what Voldemort really wanted, didn’t you?” Sirius asked, frowning. “It wasn’t because he was a Death Eater.” 

He could feel his anger ebbing away. His situation was suddenly the furthest thing from his mind. His heart might be in pieces, but it’d only been like that for two weeks. And it was all his own making. Atlanta had spent almost three years with her heart in tatters and she’d never spoken to anyone about it. 

“Yeah. I knew the moment— ouch,” she said, her voice going high as she slapped her right hand over her left forearm.

Right where a Dark Mark would be located. Sirius stared at her bare arm. She was breathing heavily, curled into herself. 

“I don’t deal well with pain,” she muttered, slowly removing her hand from her bare arm. She stared at her forearm, almost waiting to see what was going to happen to it. 

“What just happened?”

“Reggie was called,” she muttered quietly. She pursed her lips together. “I wish he’d stop loving me.”

Sirius stared at her. Questions rolled around his head. She glanced up at him, sighing deeply. 

“When Reggie is in pain, I feel it. I sense when he’s near. I can freaking feel him,” she spat out. “I knew he became a Death Eater on his birthday. His sixteenth birthday.”

Sirius felt all the air leave his lungs.

“I was minding my own business, trying to work on a spell I’d been assigned and my left forearm burned like a million knives were shoving themselves through my veins. It went through my entire body. I had no idea what the hell was going on, but the next day I met up with him to celebrate his birthday and I understood. I can see magic and I know, thanks to Tom, what Moldy’s magic looks like. The Dark Mark is visible to me when its used to call and when it’s fresh. It takes twenty-fours hours for the Moldy’s magic to seep in and take hold. Throughout that summer my arm would hurt and sometimes…It was worst than when they later put the Cruciatus Curse on him.”

Sirius’ blood froze.

“They do that to him a lot,” she admitted quietly. “After it was clear his mission failed…it was days of pain. I don’t know what they did to him, but I was afraid they’d killed him. But, he’s still alive, clearly.”

She threw her head into her hands again, yanking at her hair.

“Why won’t he stop loving me! I told him I hated him, I told him I no longer loved him.”

“You lied.”

“He doesn’t know that,” she admitted quietly. “I know he thinks it is true.”

“He could be staying away for your own good,” Sirius suggested. “Because he knows Voldemort wants you.”

“No. He knows I don’t love him,” she insisted. “I’m a good actress when I want to be. Malfoy used to tell me I should go into Muggle films if all else failed.” 

“Malfoy?”

“Never mind. I know Reggie believes it and isn’t doing this for my own good because he was despondent. He’s tried a few times to get me to talk to him. I’ve said horrible things to him. Really horrible things,” she muttered. She curled into herself, falling sideways on the ground. “But he won’t stop. He just won’t stop loving me and it’s killing me. Since the first day I saw him, I’ve been able to feel him. Here.”

She hit herself over her heart.

“I could feel him before I fucking saw him. I knew he was watching me and it felt so much differently than when you stared at me, or anyone else for that matter. I could never feel you or anyone else staring at me, unless they were glaring or something. But, Reggie…I felt him before I ever saw him. Then, the night he became a Death Eater, I felt pain for the first time. I had no idea what the hell was going on. I thought I was going insane. Or more insane, to you.”

She bitterly laughed.

“It wasn’t until someone tried to kill him with a Bludger I figured out it wasn’t just Moldy.”

Sirius noticed she was holding her wrist. Sirius remembered that Quidditch match. He was seated next to Atlanta, who was only sitting with them because she wanted to sit with Remus. She usually sat with her fellow Ravenclaws, but that game, they’d been chattering on about some charm she was working on. Sirius knew neither of them were paying attention, but just as Reggie was hit, suddenly Atlanta had screamed, holding her wrist as if it was broken. Sirius was the only one who did not stare at Atlanta because he was watching his brother fall off his broom after getting hit with a Bludger.  

Regulus never hit the ground, as someone slowed him down, but he’d broken his wrist badly. The bone was poking out. Atlanta was in tears, yet no one could figure out what the problem was. She wouldn’t let anyone take her hand off her right wrist. She simply sobbed and curled into herself. 

It had been bizarre. It made Sirius think she was really bat shit crazy. 

Lily had taken her to the Hospital Wing, which was crazy after the match. The Slytherin Beaters had injured almost everyone on the Gryffindor team it seemed. 

“I figured it out the moment I saw him,” she said. “I put it together. I hurt because he hurt.”

“That’s….”

“Twisted? Insane? Crazy? Unheard of?”

“No. Not unheard of,” Sirius admitted, remembering Remus could “feel” him. Not to the degree Atlanta felt Reggie, though. He was sure the elder Potters could feel when something was wrong with one another. James and Lily could to a degree, especially after they were married. “Sometimes when wizards connect…it’s on a very deep level. And maybe…you’re being…wolfish had something to do with it?”

Remus’ connection to Sirius was more intense than James and Lily’s, or even Sirius’ to Remus. Sirius knew this for a fact. They’d always figured it was due to his being a werewolf. Sirius had never thought how Atlanta’s unique abilities would affect this. 

Sirius felt his mouth drop open. He stared at the broken girl on the floor, surrounded by books, parchment and paper. 

She was massively, hopelessly and forever in love with his stupid, idiotic little brother. While Sirius had known she loved Regulus, he had never thought about the degree of her love, nor how it would affect her. Regulus, because he failed to have wolfish qualities, would not be effected as strongly, no matter how deeply he loved her or vise versa. 

Regulus’s deep love, though, was torturing the poor girl. 

“Maybe,” she admitted. “I’m sorry. You came here to talk to me about Remus and I’ve been a total bitch.”

She slowly pushed herself up slowly. He could tell by the tension in her body, she was waiting for more pain, waiting for the Death Eaters to hurt Regulus. Sirius realized this was a large part of the reason she never joined the Order and hardly left her own flat. Besides the fact Voldemort was stalking her and wanted her, she never knew when Reggie would be called, tortured, or hurt. She’d be unable to go on missions, take part in battles, or hold down a regular job. 

Hell, the few times they’d seen her in public before she completed her Mastery were fleeting and she always left for strange reasons. 

She was lucky she was a Spellsmith. 

“Does it happen often?” Sirius asked quietly as she neared him. 

“Too often recently. Since he graduated.” Her eyes were glued to the floor. “I don’t think he’s very high up, but he seems to mess up a lot. I don’t think his heart is really in it, so he gets…in trouble. A lot. It’s not always the Cruciatus Curse. They have a wide array of curses. Though, I can always tell if it’s Voldemort or Bellatrix. He’s messed up only three times and gotten the wrath of Voldemort. That really sucked. More often, he gets handed over to Bellatrix. Because he’s her cousin and her responsibility.”

She sniffed loudly and brushed passed Sirius. He followed her back into the lounge. 

“So, you two broke up right before he went on his big mission?” Atlanta asked. 

“Yes.”

He didn’t bother to ask her how she knew Remus was on a mission. He was just happy she knew and he didn’t have to explain. 

“Idiot,” she muttered. “When will he be back?”

“He didn’t know really. He wouldn’t tell me. But, he said he’d be gone for a long time,” Sirius admitted. “Dumbledore wouldn’t tell me anything either. I think Dumbledore warned Remus about something…having to do with me.” 

“Oh?”

“Yeah, during our fight he yelled something about Dumbledore being right there was no room for love in this war,” Sirius admitted slowly. “That was when I screamed I hated him and he disgusted me.”

She nodded. “You really shouldn’t have done that, Sirius.”

“I know. I also yelled about betrayal, trust and a lot of other things. I told him I didn’t love him.”

 “You love him and I know he’s not a spy. You know Remus. You know him so well, Sirius. How can he be a spy?”

“How can Peter?” Sirius snapped. “How can I trust anyone!? I’m serious, Atlanta. How can we trust anyone in this environment? How can I trust you? How did you even know about the mission? Remus said that no one was supposed to know! Are you the spy?”

Atlanta snorted. “How could I spy on y’all? I don’t go to your meetings. I only meet with Dumbledore in his office at Hogwarts.”

“So, tell me again, how can I trust anyone?” 

“You can’t! This is what Voldemort does best! Voldemort spreads discord and misery and stomps on y’all!” she shouted, heading into her kitchen. He heard her slam cabinets. “Dictators all behave the same way. They start by promising great things, promising things a group desires. The group is powerful, so his movement and promises gain ground. Slowly, he seeps into everything, weaves himself through the group till he basically brainwashes this group. Once the group is in place, he attacks.”

The water ran, then the kettle clicked on. She came out of the kitchen and met his eyes. The stormy grey eyes met equally stormy green-grey. 

“If you studied history, you’d see what is happening. Only, he will succeed unless…unless…something major happens. He’s powerful and unlike Muggle dictators, there isn’t a huge group of countries with huge armies to bring him down. The wizarding world doesn’t have a standing army. No standing military. British wizarding society is so ill prepared.”

She tore her eyes away from him and sighed deeply. 

“It’s happening. And it has to,” she muttered. 

She turned, walking across the room towards the dormer windows that lined the wall of the sitting room. She had a great view of the park from the third floor. She put her hands behind her back and Sirius could see she was digging her nails into her skin. 

“No one can change time. That’s the wizarding law,” she whispered, still looking out the center window. “There are fixed points in time, those cannot change. I tried. Things are still happening as they did before.”

“Are you a Seer?” Sirius asked. “Because you’re talking like one. Kind of.”

Sirius ventured further into the room, noticing the kettle was boiling on the stove already. He went into her kitchen, which was open to the lounge (which was kind of weird, but this was Atlanta, her whole flat was strange). He fixed the tea he assumed she’d started and took it into the lounge, setting the cups on the coffee table. Atlanta turned at the noise and sat down in a chair near the couch.

“You could say that,” she offered. She looked throughly downtrodden. “I can’t save them. It’s a fixed point. Tragically.”

She had a far away look on her face. She turned her head again and stared back out the window. Sirius frowned. He had no idea what she was really talking about, but he felt it wasn’t good. 

“Sirius, I know this doesn’t make sense. I know I don’t make sense,” she began, turning back to him. “But, I’m sorry. I wanted to save everyone, I wanted to end this before it got too far, but I don’t know enough. I’m missing key information, but, clearly…are not all that different. I’m…I can’t save everyone, but…you’ll be okay.”

“I will?”

“Yes. Remus will forgive you,” she said. “Even if I don't know some things, I know he will. He loves you like he loves to breathe. He’ll come back and you will fix what you broke. He’s not a spy.”

“But, I won’t see him for a long time,” Sirius pouted. His heart shattered further. He felt broken. “I…I made such a mess. I hurt him. Like you did Reggie. I said things… horrible things.”

“Did you accuse him of being a Death Eater?”

“No. Not outright,” Sirius admitted. “I told him I hated him. That I couldn’t love someone like him. I also…said things about him being a werewolf.”

Atlanta sighed. “You will live through this. So will Remus. You will find one another again, you’ll be on equal footing again and things will be fine. But…trust…it’ll be hard to trust in this war. Don’t trust people, Sirius. I know this is horrible for me to tell you, but you can’t just trust someone because they are your friend. You cannot just trust someone because you think they have your best interest at heart. You need to think. You MUST think before you act, Sirius. It’s the only way to save yourself. And the ones you love.”

“How can I trust you, if what you are saying is true?”

“You can’t,” Atlanta replied. “You’ll need to take a leap of faith.”

She picked up her tea and sipped it slowly. Sirius held his in his hands, staring out her window.

“You’re flat is weird.”

“I know. I have my own taste,” she offered lightly. He noticed the tension leaving her as she sipped the tea. She had Think Face on. “I will save Reggie.”

“How?” Sirius couldn’t help but ask.

“I don’t know yet, but I don’t think I have a lot of time,” Atlanta offered. She frowned. “You can’t go back to your flat. Stay here.”

“What? Why?”

“You broke up with the love of your life who you lived with, Sirius Black,” she reminded him. “You came here for a reason. You could have gone to James or Peter, but you came here.”

“Peter lives with his mum. James lives with Lily.”

“Lily would be great comfort,” Atlanta pointed out. “She’s good at comfort. Me? Not so much. We basically have spent the past hour and half fighting with one another.” 

“James and Lily would…they wouldn’t have believed me. They wouldn’t have heard me out,” Sirius admitted, staring in the murky tea. “I…I know you don’t think Remus is a Death Eater or a spy, but…you heard me. James wouldn’t have heard me out like you did. Lily would have let me shout, she would have shouted as well, but…”

“Lily isn’t broken,” Atlanta quietly said. 

“No. Lily isn’t. She and James are happy.”

“You needed a broken person.”

“No, I needed someone who was in love with the enemy.”

“You still believe it, then? Remus is a Death Eater?”

“I…I don’t know any more. I have to figure it out on my own,” Sirius said. “I have to know.”

“Did you look at his arm?”

“Greyback doesn’t have a Dark Mark,” Sirius replied darkly.

“Point. But, would Remus honestly aline himself with Greyback?”

Sirius sunk onto the couch and didn’t answer her. They both knew the answer. 

“I have work to do,” she said. “I’ll open up the upstairs Tom and I added on. Tom won’t let you have his room.”

She gracefully stood up and moved with ease out of the room. Sirius drained his mug and grabbed hers and drained it. He hadn’t brought anything with him, but he didn’t care. Atlanta appeared a short while later holding a stack of folded clothing.

“Here. I transformed some of my stuff into dude wear. Please take a shower. You smell like dirty dog,” Atlanta said, wrinkling up her nose.

Sirius took the offered clothing, making no comment. 


End file.
